Richard the 3

Both the texts of Richard the III by William Shakespeare and Looking for Richard by Al Pacino are able to draw in audiences due to their intense investigation of the human psyche. Modern day audiences are able to reconnect to the text as the values and themes portrayed in the text have been little altered over the past 400 years. Themes such as Manipulation, Justice, Power and betrayal.
Richard III is an intense exploration of the psychology of evil, he is able to easily mould, manipulate and seduce the texts characters. Richard proves to be highly self-reflective and complicated in the later scenes making his heinous acts all the more chilling. But despite his open allegiance to evil, he is such a charismatic and fascinating figure that, for much of the play, we sympathize with him, audiences are able to gain emotional access to the character through Shakespeare’s ignition of the human psyche. In this way, our relationship with Richard mimics the other characters’ relationships with him, conveying a powerful sense of the force of his personality. Even characters such who have an explicit knowledge of his wickedness, allow themselves to be seduced by his brilliant wordplay, his skillful argumentation, and his relentless pursuit of his selfish desires.
Richard is constantly manipulating characters around him in an acrobatic performance of words and subtleties. While Richard’s manipulations deliver tangible benefits, they also increase our begrudging admiration for just how talented he is at controlling people through language. Richard even manipulates the audience: by letting us in on the secret details and intents of his manipulations, he creates an atmosphere of complicity. Not only do his manipulations keep the play lively, the skill with which they’re executed keep us on his side. We get to see the inside of this incredibly artful machine. Manipulation isn’t always about deception in the play. Instead, characters often speak in veiled and clever terms,...